Sonreah Island Adventures
by Scioneeris
Summary: Set after the Thriller Bark Arc and before the Spa Island adventure. When rescuing a little girl, the strawhats are cursed and arrive at the magical isle of Sonreah in search of treasure and a magical healer. Rated T for later chapters.
1. Chapter 1 : Floating Danger

**A/N : For my friends Maybelle and Laureeza-I've finally done it. A One Piece fanfic. Now quit bugging me about it. :D Set after the Thriller Bark Arc and in between of the Spa Island adventure, the strawhats stumble into a new adventure when they rescue a little girl drifting out in the middle of nowhere. However, their helping her leads to all kinds of danger, drama and adventure which is meant to make them stronger and test their friend and whatever else. LOL. I love OP and hope that this fic is up to standard. Apologies if any of them are OOC.  
**

**Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece, that entire bit of genius is 100% Eiichiro Oda. I only lay claim to my original plot used here and my own characters.  
**

* * *

"Nami-swan, Robin-chwan!" Sanji sang out as he twirled merrily down to the lawn on the Thousand Sunny, balancing a tray bearing two delicious smoothies for the lovely ladies resting on the lounge chairs.

"Thank you, Cook-san." Robin took hers with a smile.

Nami stretched slowly like a cat, choosing to favor the cook with an even glance for once. "Thank you, Sanji-kun." She took a slurp of the fruity concoction and an expression of bliss filtered over her face as she tossed her short hair. That felt good. It was the perfect touch to the relaxing moment she'd desperately needed.

Thriller Bark had not been the kind of thrills she'd wanted—relaxing under the sun was almost making up for it—almost. She was glad to have that chapter closed and done with. Hopefully the next adventures wouldn't be so harrowing. She shuddered at the thought of her almost marriage and brightened slightly at the memory of Lola.

Sanji disappeared to the kitchen, returning a moment later with the large platter of refreshments for the rest of the crew. He knew he didn't have to call, because the moment he stepped on deck, the captain and his fellow crew members were already sitting in a line, drooling as they awaited his next culinary expression.

Keeping them in check with a poised eyebrow, Sanji set the tray on top of a picnic blanket, stepping back just in time as the eager hands attacked the food. He watched them stuffing their faces amidst happy exclamations and that was enough for him as he strolled back to where the ladies lounged.

"Oi, oi, don't hog it all, Luffy!" Usopp whined, but he didn't stop stuffing his mouth either as Chopper tried to reach around them to help himself as well. Sanji's snacks were disappearing quickly as Brook and Franky emerged from the lower deck, discussing something between themselves.

"Ohh, snacks?" Brook was beside them in a moment, also messily stuffing his face.

Sanji deliberately ignored them now as he lit a cigarette and took a long, slow drag. He didn't feel like bashing any manners into the living skeleton. Personally, it was a bit relieving to see them back to normal in terms of their recent adventures on Thriller Bark. Franky strolled over to join in the fray when Zoro's shout from the crow's nest drew their attention.

"Eh?" Luffy perked up at the sound of Zoro's voice through the loudspeaker. He was at the portside within a half-second. "Oooh." He peered out into the sea of blue.

"It's a…barrel?" Usopp adjusted his goggles, squinting. "No…a marker?" He turned to Luffy in puzzlement.

"Another barrel?" Chopper squeaked, trying to get a look in as well.

"Leave it alone, Luffy." Nami sighed, sitting up. "The last time we touched a barrel-" Her gaze flitted to Brook. Then again, it was Luffy she was talking to. "Sanji-kun?"

"Hai, Nami-swan!" He was at her side in a moment.

"Don't let Luffy-" She began.

"It's not a barrel." Usopp said, a moment later. "It's a…floating…thing-"

"Ah, a mystery thing?" Luffy stared at Usopp in amazement.

"Water marker." Franky supplied, joining them. "Used 'em at Water Seven to measure out portions of water to test things." He frowned. "What's one of-oi, there's another!" He leaned forward. "And another—is, there's a lot of them—whoa!"

And there was another. And another, and another.

Stretched out, spanning to the right and then to the left, a large section of the beautiful blue waters were sectioned off with floating, brightly colored cone-shaped markers. Usopp was sweating bullets as he read out a warning plaque strung between two markers. "D-danger. E-enter a-at y-your o-own r-r-risk." He stammered. Chopper choked from beside him.

"Enter what?" Sanji growled as the ship glided past the markers, pulling lightly on the cords connecting them. His sharp eyes caught sight of several large, uneven blobs rising from the water with the new tension of the cords between the markers. His eyes grew wide. "Sea king…?" The cigarette nearly fell from his open mouth. He'd never seen anything like that before.

There were large chunks of meat, still dripping redness into the ocean and sliding forward along the cord as the Thousand Sunny plowed onward. Pieces of meat that could only have come from the giant sea kings themselves. Someone or something had managed to capture enough of them to use in the grisly marker-rope that was stretched out before them.

"Meat?" Luffy perked up, his eyes sparkled at once. "Sanji-!"

"You just had a snack, Luffy." Sanji retorted. He didn't mind serving up some of the meat, except for there was something very strange about the fact that there were giant shanks of meat strung up in the ocean just waiting for someone to sail by. It had to be a trap.

"Robin?" Nami looked to the archaeologist with a nervous expression. "Ever heard of…?" She gestured towards the strange sight as the Thousand Sunny continued on.

"No, Navigator-san." Robin's brow furrowed into a neat bow. "I have never seen nor heard of something like this, perhaps we should drop anchor and-"

"Luffy?" Nami called, but was on her feet in a moment, barking orders at them to adjust the sails and drop anchor. She didn't need to wait to hear what he said when someone was obviously wrong enough to make Robin suggest they drop anchor. Nami didn't like that at all. Something about the way the cords were straining was beginning to put a whole new layer of stress on her tiny moment of relaxation just moments before.

By the time they'd brought the Thousand Sunny to a reluctant halt, Zoro called down from the mast and Usopp readjusted his goggles to see what the fuss was all about. He was soon chattering and stuffing his fingers in his mouth before the curious stars of his fellow crewmates brought him back to his senses.

"Na, Usopp." Luffy danced excitedly from one foot to the other. "What is it? Zoro?" He called up. "I don't see anything." He rocketed to his perch atop the Sunny's lion figurehead. "Ehhh—Nami?"

"A girl." Sanji said, hearts popping into his eyes as he squinted again. His mellorine radar could pick that up a hundred miles away.

A darkened blob was floating out in the middle of the marker-sectioned waters, bobbing up and down on the waves. There was nothing else to be seen, except for the fact that the markers went so far away into the distance that there wasn't a portion seen for safe passage.

"It's a girl." Usopp confirmed as they drifted closer, not quite stopping just yet. "She's…tied…to a piece of wood?" He blinked. That didn't sound right at all, but when he double-checked, Zoro dropped down beside him.

"A pillar." He grunted. "She's tied to some kind of floating stake on a raft."

"Steak?" Luffy frowned.

"Not that kind, Luffy." Usopp admonished. He craned his neck. "Her mouth's stuffed with something. She's trying to get free. She's all chained up and-" The words tumbled from Usopp's mouth as he drew back. The chattering and stammering was repeated as a large shadow loomed overhead. "Sea King!" He shrieked.

The other members turned in time to leap into action. The giant sea king bearing down towards their ship was taken care of by Zoro and Brook.

"Sea Kings." Robin corrected. "Diez fleurs!" On the second sea king hurtling towards the Thousand Sunny, hands appeared, tugging the flopping fins over the giant eyes. She only needed to distract it, knowing the others would take care of it.

Sanji leapt into the air, finishing it off with a single blow to the head. He smirked, knowing the marimo would be stewing slightly over the fact that he hadn't been able to best him on that.

"The anchor isn't catching." Nami peered into the darkened water. They'd dropped anchor, but they were still drifting as if they hadn't even tried to slow down at all. A shiver ran through her as a flickering image appeared on the blue surface and then faded away. "C-chopper?" She turned to the reindeer beside her. "Did you see that?"

"See what?" The little reindeer peered down into the blue water. He inched closer to the navigator. He didn't have to see to know that something was wrong.

"There's more of them? Look out, bro!" Franky sucked in a breath. "Fresh fire!"

* * *

And so the ship was in uproar.

By the time things were sorted out again, several more sea kings littered the water's surface and the Thousand Sunny had drifted so far in between the markers, that the cord had cut and there was no sight to the other end at hand.

There was also a new development as they approached the floating stake and Sanji leapt out to land lightly on the wooden raft. The girl chained to the post was no more than possibly ten years of age. Her hair was red and twisted into tight ringlets that were plastered to her neck with sweat. Her wide blue eyes were fixed imploringly on the curly-browed cook as she strained against the restraints.

A silent shadow whisked by and a flash of blue was proof that Zoro had joined them as the chains holding the girl captive fell to the base of the makeshift raft. She tore at the gag on her mouth, pushing away Sanji's helpful hands. There was a muffled squeak of pain as she gasped in a breath, redness showing in her eyes and face as she threw herself towards them both. "Get down!"

The shift in the weight distribution was enough to take them down with her and they landed in an awkwardly sprawled heap, a tangle of arms, legs and curly red hair. She scrambled to her feet, pulling away from their fighting hands and nearly toppled into the water until a stack of hands sprouted off of the raft to hold her in place.

"Diez fleurs!" Robin smiled from the deck, steadying the girl.

"Get off of me you stupid marimo!" Zoro tried to stand on the bobbing raft.

Sanji grunted. "You're the one who's-"

"Thank you for saving me, but please get back on your boat and get out of here quickly!" The girl begged, pulling Sanji away from Zoro and planting herself between the two bickering fellows. "You have to hurry!" She tried to push Sanji towards the edge of the raft only to be caught by her head under Zoro's large hand. "You have to get out of here before he comes-"

"Hey." He scowled "What kind of a-"

"Get down!" She shrieked again, diving to the floor of the raft as something streaked overhead. "This is bad. This is very bad." The raft pitched from side to side and the occupants went sprawling once more.

A sudden darkness began to spread over the sky and the girl began to tremble from her curled up position on the wooden raft. Her hands were over her ears and she was shaking her head until the raft bobbed uncertainly and she tried to sit up.

"What was that?" Zoro was on his feet at once, the rocking sea movements already memorized in his head. He drew his swords, tensing.

"That's why you have to get out of here—eeep!" The girl squeaked as she turned and saw the Thousand Sunny about to descend on them.

In the moment she closed her eyes, both men leapt, with Sanji being the one to grab the girl as Zoro sliced something behind them. They landed on desk as the others were dashing about. The anchor was taken in and the sails readjusted.

"Franky." Nami shouted. "Can we use a-"

"Whee!" Luffy bounced energetically on the figurehead, one hand on his straw hat and the other recoiling from the last gomu-gomu pistol he'd just thrown. This was one adventure he hadn't seen coming at all. The tiny raft below was pushed to the side in newly cut and slashed pieces as the Thousand Sunny pitched forward.

"Something's wrong." Nami called up to him. "Luffy, can you see anything?"

"Na, Nami." He grunted. "Something's coming though. Zoro, Sanji?"

The two took up their usual flanking positions beside their captain. The figure approaching was spewing blackness behind them in their ever-swift approach. They could now see the other side of the markers and just as they were within sight, the markers themselves began to rise up out of the water.

"It's a net!" Robin was the first to react. "Navigator-san, now is a-"

"Franky!" Nami screamed.

Franky was already below deck, prepping for the necessary getaway. "Coup de burst!"

* * *

The Thousand Sunny flew up and over the giant net, landing hard in the open water. There were rips and tears in the sails as they flew past the darkened figure that screeched in rage and tried to snatch them out of the air. It howled in fury as the net was fully retracted, filled to bursting with sea kings dead and alive.

Usopp shuddered, unable to tear his eyes away from the spectacle as one shaking hand adjusted his sniper goggles. He could make out a figure of a man with dark hair and dark…wings? His knees began to knock together. He'd never seen anything like that before.

"Chopper?" Nami sagged against the railing, her attention shifting to the little doctor trying to examine the unconscious little girl.

"She's unconscious, but breathing." He said, efficiently moving over her in his brisk, professional way, his doctor's satchel on the deck. "We can move her."

"I would prefer that you didn't." The voice came from the opposite railing and standing in a shroud of black, a tall, skinny man frowned disapprovingly at the pirate crew before him. "Actually, I would prefer if you gave her back, after all, she is my sacrifice and not yours. I'll have you know I went to a great deal of trouble to acquire her and I simply can't overlook your kidnapping such a valuable ingredient."

Usopp yelped, scrambling backwards away from the newcomer.

"Ingredient?" Sanji tensed from his position to the left of the deck railing.

"Are you a chef?" Luffy hopped down from the figurehead to stand boldly on the grassy deck. "Do you-"

"And messing up my net, even after I posted signs for-no, young man, I am not a chef, I am a-" The man stopped, a smirk slowly creeping over his features. He sniffed, appreciatively. "Ah, devil fruit users. How delightful. It is rare to find so many in the middle of the sea. What a wonderful development."

"What were you making?" Luffy wanted to know. He was still seeing the giant net and wondering what kind of dish used so much meat. "Sanji, can you-"

"Not what I was making, but what I'm about to make. I'm not a chef." The man snorted. "But you are in the way, I cannot complete my work with such insolent interruptions of-" His gaze flickered towards the fluttering flag. "Pirates, eh? I guess that means you won't be missed if I use you to-"

"Z-zoro, it's him!" Usopp babbled, finally finding his voice as he tugged on Zoro's pant leg.

"Huh?" The green-headed swordsman looked at him in confusion and resisting the urge to kick away the skinny hands clinging to his leg.

"That thing we flew past, that tried to knock us out of the air, it's him."

"I don't know what you're talking about." The man said, smoothly. "But as soon as you return my daughter, we won't trouble you anymore."

Usopp's eyes narrowed, his fear suddenly forgotten. "That's a lie!" He said, boldly. "She isn't your-"

He moved. There was a blur of grey-black that streaked from the railing towards the girl. Sanji, Zoro and Luffy reacted in the split-seconds in between. They were painfully aware of the moment when the man reached the girl first, only to be thwarted by Robin's hands sprouting up to grab his neck. An agonized scream was wrenched out of his mouth before he twisted sharply and a spark of black-red energy caused the hands to dissolve in a sudden swirl of sakura.

The strange man was subjected to the attack of those closest. One stinging punch from Luffy, a skull-crushing kick from Sanji, a vital organ-strike from Zoro's three-sword style and a flaming ball from Usopp. The others were about to press inward when the stranger exploded outward.

The fire provided by Usopp consumed him entirely—but without the slightest negative effect. Instead, from the midst of the burning flames, he spoke with a heavier, grated voice. "How dare you? Do you petty humans know who I am?" He roared. "I'll make you pay for-"

Luffy's fist connected with the side of his face, knocking him to a sprawl on the other end of the deck. Nami swirled her clima-tact and called out "Rain tempo!" The water droplets dowsed the fire, saving the grass and the wooden railing.

"Look out!" Franky dodged to the left as a slender black spear thudded into the ground where Luffy had stood just moments before. In rapid succession a volley of black spears embedded themselves in the grass-covered deck.

"If you're going to be this way." The man snarled. "I'll make you pay for this." He clambered up on the railing, heaving and panting. "You're all going to pay for this." His beady eyes flickered with the same glimpse of red-black energy. "Every single one of you! Acklon-Malvean-Olith!" The chant was finished as Zoro and Sanji descended upon him.

In the moments where they kicked him off the ship, a peculiar thing happened.

There was a puff of smoke, a yellow puff and a green puff respectively, before two small, six-inch miniature versions of the two lay before them.

That's when pandemonium really settled in.

* * *

"Sanji! Zoro!" Luffy was beside them in a minute, trying to grab hold of them as the miniatures suddenly dived away from his incoming hands.

"Luffy-wait!" Sanji yelled as loudly as he could, dodging to the side. Things were too big, too loud and too…confusing. The last thing he wanted was to be squashed by eager rubber hands.

"Luffy!" Chopper was beside them. "Sanji, Zoro! Someone call a doctor!" Chopper shrieked, running in a circle around them.

The cook and swordsman exchanged a glance before settling down on the grass.

Chopper stopped running. "Oh wait, that's me." He swallowed hard. "Now, um, let's see."

"Robin?" Nami waved her hands in front of the archaeologist's face. "Robin, what's going on? Talk to me!"

"Long-nose?" Franky and Brook stood over Usopp's trembling form. "hey bro, what's-"

"Oh my, yohohoho." Brook trilled, nervously. "I think we-"

"Chopper, Robin's not moving!" Nami's fear-filled voice drew their attention as she cast a glance towards Franky and the others. "And neither is Usopp!"

* * *

**~*~*~*~My first OP fic. *gulp* Please review and let me know what you think. I'm open to suggestions, critiques, whatever. ^_^ ~*~*~*~**


	2. Chapter 2 : Round of Confusion

**A/N: This second chapter took a little longer. My apologies if any of them seem a bit OOC. I tried my best to make it work. This was a bit fun to write, though it is a little short. Thank you for the favs-reviews are welcome as well, LOL. Anyway, quit reading my ramblings and read the story!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own this wonderful thing known as One Piece. That genius belongs solely to Eiichiro Oda. ^_^  
**

* * *

Luffy's head bowed, slightly, one hand moving to press his strawhat a little tighter onto his head. He couldn't follow every detail of what had happened, but he did know something.

The mystery man had done something very bad.

The mystery man had caused trouble.

The mystery man had hurt his nakama.

Slowly fisting one hand in the other, he cracked his knuckles. Deliberately.

He heard the ripple of water, the man rising up from where Sanji and Zoro had knocked him. Fury filled him from the very soles of his feet to the tips of his fingernails. He channeled it into one purposeful punch. "Gomu gomu no pistol!"

The punch connected quite solidly.

An audible grunt was heard, followed by a curse as the man was flung back against the water. He didn't simply fall though, instead, a pale streak of blue energy fanned out in his wake, rocking the ship viciously from side to side.

"Nami!" Luffy shouted to her, bracing himself and readying another punch. There was pure fury in his eyes. There was no way he was going to let this villain get the better of him.

Beside Chopper, the little girl stirred faintly. It was a slight quiver of her fingertips, then a trembling shudder that came over her entire body. Her head lolled to the side and she coughed up globs of sticky blueness, tinged with purple the moment the strange substance came in contact with the air.

Another shudder passed through her and her eyelids fluttered open, touches of pink returning to her face. Chopper shielded her in Guard Point. "Nami!" He squeaked.

"Lightning Tempo!" Nami dodged in front of him and the girl, providing a brief shield with large, jagged flashes of lightning. She providing backup for Luffy and protection for the others in the only way that she was capable.

The fight continuing on before them was a wild mesh of near insanity. Luffy wasn't holding back and neither was the winged villain. Their blows were fairly equal, with the strange blue energy emanating from the stranger—the only reason his attacks seemed to hurt the strawhat boy.

The Thousand Sunny's deck had become a strange middleground. All injured members were moved to one side of the deck, where Chopper frantically tried to tend to them. He was torn between the confusion and his duty as he realized that Robin had two broken arms and Usopp was bleeding from the side of his head.

The confusion part settled in when Chopper finally realized why the Sniper was so tongue-tied. "Usopp!" He screeched. "Your hands!"

Usopp couldn't answer. He was holding up two tanned, smooth stumps where his hands once were. There was pure fear and terror in his eyes, as all traces of courage left him. He shuddered violently, beginning to rock back and forth.

"Oi, Usopp! Get ahold of yourself!" The mini-Zoro growled up at him, attempting to scurry back and away from the giant trembling figure.

Sanji was glowering from his spot beside Robin, his face an indescribable mask. Franky and Brook had taken up flanking positions before their weary group, backing up Nami who was struggling to create dark clouds and lightening to fortify Luffy's rubber attacks.

"Ow." There was a plaintive wail from the midst of their little circle.

Chopper whirled around to see their youngest patient sitting up, a huge pout on her face and fat tears streaming down her cheeks. She sniffled loudly before her mouth opened a loud, shrieking wail made them all wince.

* * *

The unearthly wail made the winged man flinch.

Luffy took advantage of that moment to snap his hands forcefully into the man's gut with a grunt of "Gomu-Gomu no bazooka!" The fire inside of him was still simmering fiercely. He had to beat this man. Then he had to make him turn Sanji and Zoro back to normal.

Then he'd make him fix whatever else had gone wrong.

Usopp's blubbering, Chopper's shrill shouts and Nami's yells had formed a symphony in the midst of the makeshift battlefield. Luffy was trying not to listen to it. He was trying to concentrate. It was much harder than he was willing to admit.

His rubber bazooka hit the winged man clearly in the stomach, effectively knocking the wind out of him. He was flung backwards and shooting towards the water again, when the trademark flare of sky-blue energy shot out beneath him and provided a make-shift surfboard, allowing him to skim across the water's surface.

Luffy's hands snapped back to his sides as he pressed his hat tighter onto his head. He needed to end this soon. He could feel his annoyance bubbling beneath the surface and suddenly, the new flash of anger was all he needed to wind up again.

Backing up a few steps, he leaned backward and then snapped forward, using the force to throw his arms outward again. "Gomu-Gomu no Gatling gun!"

The flurry of fists exploded in the air, the winged man beginning to dodge them on his way back towards the Thousand Sunny. He was twisting his body like a thread, avoiding the powerful punches as he skimmed over the water's surface, aided by the flips of sky blue energy.

That's when Luffy felt the small hands on his left leg. They were cold and very small, but purposeful and deliberate as they closed around his left shin. He snuck a glance downward to see the little girl they'd rescued. She was staring up at him with wide, golden-amber eyes and two chocolate brown cat-ears sticking out of her head. Her nose twitched for a moment and then she spoke.

"Hit him to the left of his shoulder, just between his neck." Her nose wrinkled. "It's his weak point."

His hands snapped back to his sides again and Luffy stared down at her, his focus temporarily disrupted. "Eh? Really?"

Her head whipped around to look towards the winged man's steady approach. "Now!" She yelped. "Do it now!" Her hands scrabbled at his leg and she hugged it tightly. "I'll help you."

"Ehhh?" Luffy couldn't keep the exclamation in. But as he was about to ask how, a pale orange energy began to envelope her. Before he could protest, the pale orangeness grew until it also covered him from head to toe in a strange, tingly feeling.

"Now!" She buried her face in the hem of his shorts. "Hurry. I can't do this for-" She coughed and the pale orange energy flared to a rich, vibrant red.

Luffy didn't let his brain short-circuit. He threw his arms forward with all the force that he could muster. His aim was close and he nailed the given point between the man's left shoulder and neck.

The winged fellow gave a loud cry, but then drew back, turning to the side so that his full body was no longer an obvious target. His face had darkened by several shades of grey and there was nothing but a fierce blue energy that now burned even brighter up and around him, until he was nearly hidden behind the entire wall of flame.

As Luffy's hands returned, he took an awkward, clumsy step back to absorb the impact. Awkward because the little girl refused to let go of his leg, clumsy because he saw what had really happened.

The moment his hands had returned, an agonizing scream ripped through the air. Following the same pathway as his hands had, the fierce red energy shot out over the water's surface. It pierced the blue energy and slammed into the same point as Luffy's pistol punch.

Thrown off balance, the winged man writhed and screamed as the red energy slowly consumed him until the blue fire was no more. A curtain of shimmering blackness streamed down from the sky, enveloping him entirely. When it faded, the man was gone.

The little girl's hands fell limply to the deck as she flopped back on the grass, the ears disappearing and her eyes flickering to a light brown hue, the cat-eyed pupils returning to dark blue orbs. Her chest rose and fell in short, shaky breaths.

"Are you alright?' The whisper was pushed through her lips.

"Luffy!" Chopper was beside them in a moment.

"Luffy?" Nami ran to his side, she looked from the girl to him and then to Chopper's worried expression. She bit her lip. "Na, Luffy, Chopper. We need to get out of here." She began to bark at them to arrange the sails to alter their course. They'd deal with the weirdness later.

They needed to get out of here. Now.

"Not that way." The little girl coughed, one cold hand reaching out to grab Nami's ankle.

Nami bit back a squeal as she tried to pull her foot away. "W-what?"

"Sonreah." The girl's eyelids fluttered. "Go to Sonreah. They can help." She whispered a few words and Nami's eyes grew wide. "It's there." She coughed. "It's there." And then her little body went limp.

* * *

They were soon seated in the infirmary, Robin on the bed, Usopp on a chair, with Sanji and Zoro standing as far apart from each other as possible on Chopper's desk. Franky was taking care of the Thousand Sunny and Brook was keeping watch. The rest of them had filed into the infirmary with Chopper.

Sharing the bed with Robin, was the little girl who stirred from the dregs of sleep for the second time that day. She blinked open her eyes sleepily, struggling to focus on the new surroundings. She tried to sit up only to be restrained by Chopper's hooves.

"Don't sit up yet." He said, anxiously. "You've been-"

"I hurt." She said, simply. "Fix?" Then one little hand went to the side of her neck, she made a fist and then tapped the end lightly with her other hand. There was a muffled squeak as a red spark of energy leapt from the fist into the side of her neck. She clutched her throat for a few seconds, her legs scrabbling under the sheets as the red faded into a pale orange energy that shimmered over her from head to toe. A faint touch of it filtered over to Robin, a detail that was unnoticed by most except for Luffy.

It fizzled out a moment later and her hands dropped to her lap. Almost at once, the chocolate brown cat ears popped out from her head and the golden-amber cat-eyes returned, this time accompanied by a long, curling tail that joined the hands twining nervously in her lap.

"T-thank you?" It came out more of a question than a statement. Her eyes zeroed in on Luffy. "Are you alright?" Her eyes grew wide, the expression almost comical on her small, expressive face. "Did he hurt you?" She began to move again.

"W-wait!" Chopper tried to restrain her, but she shook her head impatiently.

"I am fine." A cultured lilt inserted itself in her voice and with a sudden air of importance, she drew her tail forward and up to her chest, sitting up perfectly straight, her head at a practiced angle. "Please do excuse me if I have caused you some form of inconvenience, I assure you that I am quite fine." Her eyes narrowed. "Are you a deer?"

"I'm a reindeer!" Chopper snapped.

The cat-eyes blinked calmly at him. "With a blue nose?" She leaned down until her face was directly in front of him. "How very unusual." Her face broke into a wide grin. "What's your name?" She swung her feet over the edge of the bed and began to thump them lightly on the frame.

"Who was that guy?" Nami moved to stand behind Chopper. "And what did he want with you?"

The grin wavered slightly. "I am Altessa Nerowith the third, daughter of Alcan and Illika, heir of the next guardian-apparent, wielder of both a Devil fruit and Sonrean magic." The cat-eyes blinked slowly and deliberately. "I am not human. I belong to the house of Mercia. That is what that wretched ingrate wanted with me." She wrinkled her nose. "What is your name?" She reached out and gently poked Chopper's hat. "I want to know your—I would very much like to know your name, please." The sentence was restructured, the slight lapse in tones disappearing.

Robin stirred in the bed behind her and Altessa turned at once. Her face brightened as the older woman opened her eyes, taking in the new surroundings.

"Hello, are you feeling better now?"

Blue eyes blinked in surprise as Robin tried to make her mouth work. She succeeded a moment later. "Doctor-san?"

"Robin!" He gasped, relieved, scurrying around to the other side of the bed to reach her head. He stood over her with an attentive air, shifting forms to help her sit up. "Be careful. Does it hurt? Do you need more painkillers?"

She stifled a grimace and shook her head slightly. "I am fine, Doctor-san. The others-"

"We're fine, Robin-chwan." Sanji spoke up from the desk, with a glare over his shoulder at miniature Zoro, as if daring the green-haired swordsman to contradict him. "Do not exert yourself-"

"You should have left me there." Altessa said, quietly, her eyes finally settling on the two miniature men standing on the doctor's desk. "There was no need for you to be involved. I told you to leave. You are very bad at following directions."

"Is that the thanks we get for saving you?" Zoro stomped over to the edge of the desk to glare at her. He didn't appreciate having his favors thrown back in his face—or the unintended insult of all things directional.

"That's no way to speak to a lady." Sanji elbowed him in the stomach.

Zoro grunted, blocking the strike.

Within seconds, the sound of clashing metal and grunts of efforts filled the tiny room. "Stop it you two!" Nami screeched, standing over them. She wanted to pound both of them, but thought better of it in their current forms. It could quite possibly injure them in a way she didn't want. They didn't quite deserve to die just yet, mostly because Zoro still owed her interest and Sanji was good at making desserts from Bellemere's Mikans.

"Hai, Nami-swan!" A weary Sanji retreated, his eyes flickering briefly to the pink, trademark hearts that would surround him whenever he was in the redhead's presence.

"Are we on course?" Altessa spoke again, sliding down from the bed to stand on her feet. She tested her weight, gingerly. "Nami-chan?" She tested the name in her mouth.

Nami jerked around to look at her. Her eyes narrowed. "You had best be telling the truth of this Sonreah Island."

"Sonreah Island?" Robin exclaimed.

All heads and eyes turned towards her.

"You know it, Robin?" Nami's eyebrows arched upwards in admiration. Sometimes it seemed like Robin really did know everything. "She said that she knew how to get there and gave me a set of coordination points for-"

"It is supposed to be a myth-"

"I am not a myth!" Altessa interrupted.

"Hush." Nami shushed her with one hand. "Why, what's wrong with it?"

"It is said that strange people live there in a world that is completely different than this." She made a gesture with her hand, a slight scowl when she realized that her arms were lying uselessly beside her. "It's said that things that happen there, don't happen anywhere else. There's hardly anything on it, but there is enough stories to hint that it might exist."

"It does exist!" Altessa protested. "I just-"

"There is said to be unimaginable treasure hidden within if you can find it."

"Treasure?" Nami's eyes flickered to Beli signs. "Ahh." She sighed dreamily. That was all that she needed to hear.

Robin merely smiled.

Nami frowned, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. She'd altered their course on a whim, because the girl had promised that her family would be willing to pay for her safe return. She claimed to live on the mystery island and had given the coordinates to plot a safe course onward before she'd fainted. She decided it was a good choice. "Ne, Luffy. She said there'd be a good reward for her safe return." She tried to smile. Luffy had been rather quiet for sometime and his head was bowed, his face shaded by the wide brim of his strawhat. "A-and treasure."

"No."

It was a single word and a singular command rolled into one.

"No?" Nami swallowed.

"We have to get Zoro and Sanji back to normal." His hands clenched into fists. "We have to make that-"

"The doctors on Sonreah can do that." Altessa trotted over to the desk. "I think. I can tell you for sure if you give me a minute."

All eyes and heads now turned to her.

She stood at the desk, the miniature men at eyelevel. Her lips pursed in careful thought. "It's not a heavy spell, it's about medium-strength and it can be lifted fairly easily, but I do not have the proper and necessary ingredients to return them to their original forms." She turned to face Luffy. "It is a basic curse, nothing too complicated?" There was a touch of uncertainty in her voice. "The doctors on the main Isle are experts in everything, they can easily fix something like-"

"Magic?" Chopper's eyes had grown wide.

"Of course." Altessa shrugged. "It is just as real as you and I am." Her head tilted to the side. "And I think we have something in common." Her cat-eyes twitched back and forth. "I ate the Neko Neko No Mi fruit."

Chopper brightened, understanding that change in subject.

"Wait a minute." Nami shook her head. "Luffy, if there's doctors there, then we can go to the island and get some help for them without giving up the reward and-"

"No." Luffy repeated. "That man-"

"His name is Atral." Altessa said, quietly. "And he's the lowest of scum that walks the berths of Nakhum streets. I do not know how he entered the island because he does not have permission to be on it nor anywhere near me. In fact, he should not have been using me to do what he was doing, much less to do what he was doing." She shook her head, as if to clear it. "He was trying to revive a forbidden spell, that sort of thing is bad. If the Magic Council knew, he would surely be punished in a way that-" She stopped again, nibbling on her fingernails. "This is all bad. Very bad. You should not go after him. That would only make things worse." Her head shook again. "Please, do not go after him. I will talk to my father and I am sure that he will do something to see that Atral is…taken care of. Please, you cannot-"

"Usopp." Luffy's voice was strained and his head finally lifted to show a face set in stone. "His hands." There was a biting touch of sadness in them. "I will not-"

"Luffy." Nami's panic had filtered away and now her head bowed as she looked down at the floor. Her eyes narrowed. "Magic." She scoffed, her mind whirling. Sure, there had many unexplainable things since they had entered the Grand Line, but this was certainly one of the most extraordinary ones. This time, there was no actual proof for it though—except for the little girl standing in front of them, her cherubic features contorted in an expression of pleading. Nami scowled. Maybe it was the fact that she had the same exact shade of red hair that she did—in long, beautiful ringlets that cascaded down her back in a matted clump, thanks to the seawater. "We'll…go after him." She managed to say.

Zoro fell over.

"Nami-swan?" Sanji's eyes bugged out in pink, fluffy hearts.

"Navigator-san?" Robin cleared her throat from her corner in the bed.

There was a loud yawn from the corner of the room and some mumbling as Usopp finally woke from his position in the chair in the corner.

"Usopp!" Chopper exclaimed. "You're awake!"

* * *

"There's no such thing as magic." Zoro said, matter-of-factly.

"Magic does exist!" Altessa gave a stomp of her little foot. "And stop treating me as if I cannot understand with-"

Usopp stared at her and then he half-laughed, half-cried into wrist-stumps where his hands would've been. She sounded like an old lady. If the situation wasn't so serious and solemn, he would've laughed outright. Then he realized that he didn't have his hands and the graveness of it all sank in a bit deeper. He scowled at Altessa, taking Nami's side. "Magic is-"

"Stop it!" Altessa whirled around and before either of them could stop her, she grabbed Sanji and Zoro, one in each hand, then slammed her hands together, squeezing her eyes shut. "Acklon-Malvean-Olith-Zenon. Acklon-Malvean-Olith-Zenon. I recant thee!" The fierce red energy exploded in a crackling red orb that flared brightly as her hands smacked together.

There was an audible snap, crackle and then a loud thump, followed by swearing, grunts and screeches. The scuffling and shuffling of arms and legs filled the infirmary before the pale pink smoke cleared out.

"Get off me!" Altessa squirmed from her position, pinned down between a full-size Sanji and Zoro, that were already sparring with each other, a fist and foot in each other's respective faces. "Oww!" The last word came out as a whine and immediately the cook and swordsman stopped.

Sanji scrambled off her at once, shoving Zoro to the side. "My dear little lady." He trilled. "I am so very sorry and I apologize for that hopeless idiot of a-"

"Magic does exist." Altessa repeated, her narrowed blue eyes fixed on the green-haired swordsman. "Take it back."

Zoro stared at her and then down at his side. Instead of three long swords tucked into his haramaki, there were three tiny knives. It took a moment for it to register that he had returned to his original size but his swords had not. "Oi, what did you do to my swords?"

"I did not do anything to them. One of them's cursed. I dinna touch it." Altessa's blue eyes flickered golden again, the cat-ears perking up. "Take. It. Back." With a sudden growl, she dropped to all fours as her body morphed into a decent-sized dark chocolate-colored cat—the size of Chopper's desk chair. She hissed.

Zoro glared at her, not moving an inch. Sanji stiffened and Nami reached forward, hesitant. Luffy frowned. "Zoro-" He began.

But Altessa beat him to it. She recoiled, her form reverting to her human-esque shape. "My apologies." She said, wearily. "I apologize for my childish, immature reaction." She bowed formally. "I am fully aware that I am indebted to you and therefore at your mercy. I do not mean to be causing extra trouble for you. I only meant to say that my hometown would be of invaluable assistance in helping you all remove your respective curses, stock your ship and exact a lovely revenge on Atral." She ducked her head lightly. "I understand that this may be more to take in than-"

"How old are you, little girl?" Robin interrupted, softly.

The red ringlets bounced limply as she turned to face the injured woman on the bed. "I am ten years old." She spoke, quietly, with a touch of firmness in her voice. "Why do you ask?"

"You said you were from the house of Mercia, correct?"

"I believe I did."

"You speak very formally."

"That is not of your concern."

"It is alright. I do not mean anything by it." Robin offered the usual, small, meaningless smile. "Are you from the royal branch?"

"I am not at liberty to answer that."

Robin stifled a chuckle. The stilted, formal speech was a dead giveaway. The girl had certainly learned what to say and how to say it in given situations. Her youthful personality was peeking through in the smallest ways and it was amusing to watch. The older woman studied the blank face before her and then decided to add her two-cents to the entire matter. Doctors on the island meant that perhaps they might be able to do something about her arms—if they were indeed cursed as the girl had implied. That would most certainly be welcome. "Captain-san, Navigator-san, I believe this girl is telling the truth and if she says there is help on this Sonreah Island, it would be a good idea to dock there while deciding our next course of action."

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**~*~*~Please review! More reviews=Faster updates!~*~*~**

**Note: *Neko Neko No Mi fruit is the "Cat-Cat Devil Fruit" one variation of it was the leopard version of Lucci from CP9. Altessa is a chocolate version of a small panther. ^_^  
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	3. Chapter 3 : Arrival in Sonreah

**A/N: Ah. I finally have the time to finish this chapter. Whew! It took awhile. I'm trying not to make it too otherwordly, but until I get all the characters established, it's going to be a bit rough. Thanks for the faves and PM's. I'm really glad to know y'all are enjoying the story, 'cause I"m having so much fun writing it. It's making my dreary school life bucketloads more interesting. The strawhats are about to enter the magical island city of Sonreah. Things are about to get crazy!  
**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the One Piece genius that is entirely Eiichiro Oda. **

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Altessa paced the length of the infirmary and then back. She did not want to sit still, she did not want to stand still, but they were not letting her out on deck yet. "I need to be out there." She fidgeted again, beginning to pace again. "I need to see where we are going."

Nami eyed her suspiciously. "Why? What's going to happen-did you do somethingto-?"

"If they don't see me, they won't let you through. You'll pass right by it." Her fierce blue eyes flickered amber-golden again. "I dinna do a thing!" She swallowed. "I did not do anything, I do not have to, but this is important."

"What?"

"I am Sonrean. The island is magical. Only Sonreans pass through the gate. You will not be admitted if they cannot see me. They will see me on the ship and they will let you through the barrier." She crossed skinny arms over her chest. "You don't understand. You do not understand."

"You're tripping up your words again." Usopp observed. He'd picked up on the girl's nervous tick and found that she was fairly easy to tease. He didn't mean it as anything but that, because she'd comforted him just moments before, assuring him that his hands could be found and reattached virtually painlessly by the doctors on the Sonreah Island.

Zoro and Sanji had left the infirmary with Luffy to have a 'serious' conversation outside where the little girl couldn't hear. It was for this reason that the others were watching her pacing the small room as if she were a caged animal. Her ears and tail began to twitch in agitation.

"Would you sit down already?" Nami growled. "You're-"

"We're getting close." Altessa's head snapped around to match her gaze. "We are much closer than I thought we were."

"Oi, Tessa." Usopp wrinkled his nose. "If it is magic, why can't they just read you? You know, like-"

"Usopp!" Nami scowled at him. "Don't encourage her…real or not."

"Altessa. AL-tessa." The girl repeated. "Not Tessa. Please refrain from referring to me by anything other than my given name."

The fancy sentence brought a smile to Robin's tired face. That was an amusing line to come out of such a small girl. "Altessa, Long-nose-kun has a point, I thought that-"

"I wasted it on those two." She waved her hands in the air, fighting the fingers together like Zoro and Sanji. A pale flush crept onto her face, settling in with a slight weight. "I mean, I did not intend to use as much as I did." One thin hand rubbed feverishly at her forehead.

"Are you okay?" Chopper was beside her instantly, his doctor-mode taking over. "Does it hurt?"

She shied away from his helpful hooves. "You canna do a thing." The lapse in her formal speech settled in at last. "It's ta be magical. You're a human practioner as a doctor, aren't ya?" She grimaced. "Human doctors can't interfere with magical beings." A quiet moan left her lips.

"Eeee!" Chopper shrieked as she doubled over. He quickly caught her sagging form and had Nami retrieve a glass of water for the faint girl. He frowned, seriousness returning. "Magic or not-I will-" He started to say.

Altessa reached out with one trembling hand and took hold of the cold glass of water. The grimace on her face stayed as she closed her eyes and threw it over her head. A few splashes caught Chopper, but his squeak of surprise was repeated when the water glowed a bright blue and then flared as it converted to energy and sank into the tired body.

Rolling her shoulders carefully and then her neck, Altessa rose to her feet, testing her limbs in turn. There was a wary expression on her face as she threw a glance towards the door. "Have you decided to trust me yet? I need to go now or we'll miss tha island."

Nami exchanged a glance with Robin. The older woman nodded, and the redheaded navigator reluctantly stood up to usher the little girl out onto the deck.

* * *

The monster trio was still in deep discussion as the door to the infirmary creaked open and the occupants of said room soon appeared on the deck. Altessa was definitely looking rather worse for the wear, but her hand had latched onto Nami's arm and she braced against her as she shuffled forward.

"Nami…?" Luffy stared.

"Ah, Luffy-eh-"

Altessa released her hold on the redhead and tilted her head back, craning her neck to see straight up into the sky. Her blue eyes flickered an amber-gold before the cat-eyed pupils reappeared along with the trademark chocolate cat ears and soft, silky tail. Two delicate sniffs in the air before she wrinkled her nose and turned her head towards the port side. "The gate's this way." She murmured, tripping towards the railing. "You need to go this way." She was climbing up on the railing, wavering faintly.

"Oi!" Zoro growled as Chopper shrieked and dashed forward.

"Don't do that!" The little doctor waved his hooves frantically. "You'll fall in and-"

A wide beam of golden light streaked out of the empty air, stabbing the girl straight through the chest. She choked, gasped and heaved as the light impaled her, stabbing viciously onto the grassy deck of the Thousand Sunny.

Altessa's eyes glazed over and her body went limp.

One long, silent moment of shock hung in the air and then as quickly as it had come, the light faded away. Altessa crumpled, pitching forward towards the water, to be grabbed by Luffy's careful rubber hand. He eased her onto the deck and into to Chopper's waiting hooves.

Before either of them could speak, Altessa gave a shuddering cough and a load, ethereal groaning could be heard.

Nami squeaked in surprise and Sanji swore silently beneath his breath as Zoro gulped.

The groaning sound was the large, golden, arched doorways creaking open before them. Beyond the doorway that seemed to have simply existed from nothingness, loud cheers, light and music spilled forth. Unfamiliar scents and gibberish came pouring out as well.

"Ow." Altessa whimpered. She shivered on the grassy deck and then blinked her eyes a few times, before trying to sit up.

"No." Chopper protested, trying to hold her back. "You were just—it just—you—don't know—didn't you just—I-" He sputtered.

She weakly waved him off. "Am fine. Just fine." She winced, a hand going to her stomach. "Up. Gotta see them."

"See who?" Nami drew closer, simply staring at the large gold doors. She was already seeing the Beli adding up in her head for the possible reward. It was too good a fantasy to ignore.

"Guards. Gatekeepers." Altessa sucked in a slow breath and tried to stand up again. She wobbled, but stayed standing, grabbing Chopper for support as her feline features melted away, her eyes returning to the fierce blue of her human-like form. "Promise me…" She coughed. "I'm doing the best I can. Promise you won't tell anyone what happened." She shuddered, clutching Chopper even tighter. "If you do, I can't get Daddy to take care of Atral. You have to let me tell him. I have to do all the talking." She sniffled. "It's dangerous here, 'cause you're human. Trust me. I'll…fix it." She doubled over in pain and Chopper began to panic.

As she fell to her knees, the little girl grabbed a handful of the grassy deck and began to whisper words beneath her breath. They were foreign, sing-songy words and when they were finished, spirals of red energy overtook her.

The body jerked and twisted before enveloping the small figure entirely.

When it melted away, an older version of the copper-ringleted girl stood before them. Her features were decidedly more angular and her expression bearing some inkling of maturity. She was dressed beautifully in a blouse and skirt, with her bare feet accented by thick, golden anklets with gems embedded all around.

She turned to them with a practiced, beautiful smile that had hearts flowing out of Sanji as she tilted her head forward. "I am terribly sorry to have been such an inconvenience." She dipped her head in a half-curtsy. "This is one of my alternate forms, as guardian heir-apparent, I only carry some weight when I am in it. Please, allow me to do the talking and do not—under any circumstances whatsoever—interfere. I cannot guarantee immediate treatment and hospitality for you all if I do not have the chance to explain from my point of view. Sonreah is not partial to pirates—but we hate marines more, so you will be fine, as long as I can explain."

Loud cheers and music began to float on the air and the older version of Altessa turned to face the opened doors with a smile at their approach. "I should also warn you that there's a festival going on at the moment, which is another reason I need you to let me do the talking. The healers are probably all celebrating, but I know one who will help you, no matter what." She coughed and a faint shudder rippled through her before she reached a hand towards the railing and steadied herself. "Promise?"

"Absolutely, Altessa-chan!" Sanji exclaimed, twirling around her new form. She was twice as beautiful as he had ever dreamed in her older version.

"Please?" She turned to look directly at Luffy. His face was hidden behind the strawhat, tilted just forward enough to shadow his face. "I will help your friends. I promise that. As a guardian heir-apparent from the house of Mercia, you have my word upon my honor. That is not something that I give lightly. Please, accept it."

Luffy reached up with one hand and pressed the strawhat tighter on his head, when he looked at her, the expression on his face was unreadable, but he nodded. "I understand."

"Thank you." She smiled, sadly—then turned to face the front as the Thousand Sunny began to sail through the giant doors.

Climbing up onto the railing, she drew several shapes into the air and threw it forward, a visible crest illuminating with bright red energy and caught by a heavily armed guard perched on a pillar just within the door's breadth.

For a moment, the Thousand Sunny stopped moving, an invisible barrier holding it back, even as the water flowed freely around it. Then, just as quickly as the barrier had come, it melted away and the pirate ship lurched forward and into the city.

Altessa waved to the guard in turn and then hopped down from the railing, leaning as far out as she could physically manage. The music was growing louder as the ship sailed into one of the main waterways of the city.

The strawhats were shocked by the sheer volume of noise and revelry—before the strangeness of it began to set in. There were people in heavy armor, folks with antennae on their heads and others with wings or protruding fangs. Various hues of skin color and hair color added to the bizarreness of the entire scene, but then a familiar feature began to stand out.

As the Thousand Sunny coasted by the sidewalks and streets, every citizen could be identified by the glowing, amber-golden cat-eyes.

They were safely within the gates when the doors creaked shut, ominously.

Altessa instructed Nami on where to dock in the open water to the edge of one corner of the square. "It's a lower city square." She explained. "You're allowed to dock here, until other things are sorted out." There was an entire platoon of armed soldiers awaiting them. "Er, don't worry about them." She turned hastily, waving her hands. "They're just here…because I am." She nibbled on her lower lip. "Remember. Just let me handle this."

A cheery face with purple pigtails and a striped-blue shirt hopped on the railing, her head tilted to the side, amber-golden eyes flashing. "Hallo there. Docking's over here, three thousand Arli for your class of ship."

"Three thousand?" Altessa repeated, incredulously. "Absolutely not! This isn't anything larger than a class twelve, it's fifteen hundred at the most." Her eyes narrowed. "At the most."

The purple pigtailed girl rolled her eyes and turned to argue when she seemed to realize who she was speaking to. "Ah…Altessa…I..er, you're right. Sorry. What was I thinking? I guess the partying's getting to my head." There was a nervous laugh. "Fifteen hundred it is…in fact, seeing as they're friends of yours, how about an even thousand? That way, I stay in business, no one yaps off my head and you're fine with that, aren't you? Aren't you?"

She seemed to consider this for a moment, then sighed. "Alright. I'll overlook it." She reached inside the front of her blouse and pulled out five metallic-rose tinted coins. "See that it's well looked after."

The pigtailed girl snatched the coins out of the air and tucked them inside her mouth, into one cheek. "As tha wishes." She gave a snappy salute. "I'll bring the clearance papers straightaway."

* * *

The formalities were completed just as a figure dropped from the sky. It was a tall, full-figured woman with metal spikes on the tips of her short cropped hair and a face with a smile twisted into a permanent grimace. She glared at Altessa with a look bearing complete, absolute hatred.

"Bernetta." Altessa forced a smile. "I was starting to wonder. I thought for sure that you'd come the moment that my signature was received at the gate-"

Bernetta's fat hand shot out and slapped her. "You insolent little brat-!" She shrieked.

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**~*~*~*Thanks for reading!~*~*~**


	4. Chapter 4 : Finding Help

**A/N : This chapter turned out to be longer than I expected, but it was a bit fun and I did some snapshots of each character, so you can tell who is thinking what about the situation they are in. There's plenty more action and some plotline stuffs. I can't wait to really get into this story and updates will be faster as finals are now over and I have time to write. Thank you for the faves-I very much appreciate it! ^_^  
**

**Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece, that entire bit of genius is 100% Eiichiro Oda. I only lay claim to my original plot used here and my own characters.**

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Her head snapped back with the force of the slap, but when she turned back to stare at the woman, there was nothing but a level-gaze and a hint of red on her cheek. Altessa was every inch the young woman her noble blood demanded of her. "Bernetta." She said, stiffly. "It is also quite stimulating to see your wonderful face as well."

The woman stared at her, her breathing becoming increasingly short as a bright red blush crept up the length of her neck and spread across her fat face. "Of course." She spat. "It would only be something as-"

"I can't explain what happened, there isn't time. I need to see Jennica at once, there's been a bit of trouble and-"

"Oh no, you don't. You've been missing for the past seventeen hours and you're just going to walk in here spouting off that kind of nonsense as if-"

'It isn't nonsense. This is an emergency and I'll gladly explain what I can as soon as we get to Jennica, these good people have-"

"Good people?" As if for the first time, the woman finally dared to look further than the golder version of Altessa before her, her jaw went slack as her gaze fastened on the strawhat jolly roger flying freely in the wind. "Pirates!" She shrieked. "You brought pirates into the city? In the midst of the festival? How dare you? And you, you pirates! You scum! What kind of wicked scoundrels are you that would dare you lay a finger on the daughter of a high-ranking noble from the house of Mercia-"

Luffy stiffened. One hand reached up to settle his strawhat firmly on his head. Zoro shifted meaningfully, his hand hovering over where his swords normally were, it registered, belatedly, when he realized that he had three small knives—and not three large swords, but there was no mistaking his intent. Sanji shifted forward, his body a shield between the two female crewmates behind him and the Bernetta lady standing on the grassy deck, shrieking madly.

Usopp was peering over Franky's available shoulder and Chopper was right behind him. Their weariness was thinly disguised, but there was no mistaking the resolution over them—if a fight was necessary, then they would fight.

A spark of fear flickered through her eyes and Altessa immediately lurched forward, deliberately drawing the older woman's attention away with her own movements and words, a desperate attempt at distraction. "Bernetta! Please stop that, you've got it all wrong, they saved me. There's nothing to blame on them and if there's anyone who should take responsibility it is solely me and-"

"Saved you? You got yourself into the kind of mess where the only people you could call for help were pirates?" She spluttered. "How could you lower yourself to such a level that-"

The young woman stiffened visibly, her body going rigid. "I didn't lower myself to anything." Her voice was unnatural, stiff and precise, the earlier desperation melting away to show a hint of regality that had flickered through before. "I did not ask them to rescue me. Why are you not listening to what I have to say! This is important-!"

"Ah, so you put yourself in a position where pirates suddenly found it in the goodness of their hearts to just suddenly save your neck for nothing? What did you promise them? Half of the island? You don't even have the gall to stand here before me and-"

"Not now." There was a hint of anger in her voice as Altessa lifted her chin a few degrees higher. Her patience was running thinner than it had been before, she was quite nearly trembling from the pressure of the emotion within her. "I refuse to have this conversation here and in the presence of others, Bernetta. I need to see Jennica and I need to see her now. Call her."

"Call her?"

"Please call her."

"Please call her? What do you take me for, your secretary?"

"That is part of your job." Altessa returned, smoothly. "And I would appreciate it if you would do so as quickly as possible, there are several people on board this ship that are in need of her medical expertise and I will not have them suffer because you are-"

:Medical expertise? This ship? These pirates?" Bernetta snorted. "You brought pirates into the heart of the city in the middle of our anniversary celebration for the sake of saving your own skin at the expense of other people's lives and-"

"I don't have time for this!" Altessa snapped, her temper finally showing through the masked expression. "There isn't any time. I don't care what you have to say about me, but right now, it has nothing to do with these good people. They risked their lives and they didn't have to. I owe them that much at the very least and that doesn't even take into consideration that they saved my life."

"Saved your life." There was a mocking laugh. "Saved your life from who?"

Altessa opened her mouth and then shut it. Her hands slowly curled into fists beside her and she took a deep breath before answering in as steady and calm a voice as she could manage. "I cannot say."

"You can't say?" The woman repeated. "Of course, you couldn't possibly say because nothing happened! You think you can just pull one of those tricks as if I'm-"

"This isn't atrick. There are people here that need medical…" Altessa's voice trailed off and she coughed, sudddnely, a slightly hacking cough, with a faint rasp on the end. A look of complete surprise showed on her face and she swallowed, carefully.

Bernetta was furiously scribbling in a little notepad she had cradled in the crook of her elbow. "Just wait until you father hears of this young lady."

"I don't care." Her voice was off. Altessa coughed again. "In fact, I do need to speak to my father, so the sooner I can have an audience with him, the better it would be. Now, are you going to call Jennica or do I have to-"

The hand flashed out and slapped her again. "I will do nothing of the sort." The notepad was shut with an audible snap. "You're going back to your quarters and will be confined until further notice at your father's discretion and-"

A brighter spot of red began to color the other side of Altessa's face, her blue eyes shimmered faintly and then the irises burned a golden amber sheen. The clenched fists at her sides were so tight that a faint trickle of redness began to show at the corners. Her hands were clenched tight enough to bleed.

"Bernetta…" The same was spoken as a hiss with nothing but absolute disgust radiating at the simple pronunciation of it. Altessa's head bowed and her voice took on a certain shade of darkness. "That was uncalled for." She shook her head—once—deliberately. "That was entirely uncalled for."

The woman snorted. "I'll be the judge of that. Your father left you in my care with instructions to do what was necessary to make you into the one thing you seem incapable of being! You're nothing but an irresponsible brat with no sense of-"

"Rubia!" Altessa's head snapped up, the golden irises glowing brightly as she suddenly shouted to someone the crowd along the docks. "Come here." It was a simple command and spoken with more authority than expected.

Bernetta stared at her for a moment and then the puzzlement seemed to settle into her face. She wrinkled her nose but ignored the words and continued with her tirade, reaching for the younger woman again.

In the throng of the street crowds, a slender woman with long, white-blonde hair turned tucking a strand of her silken locks behind one heavily bejeweled ear. Her head had turned only at the name called and the authority behind it, her eyes seeking and easily finding the one who had called her. There was no readable expression or reaction as she turned abruptly on her heel and started towards the pirate ship. The crowd seemed to part for her as she advanced towards the boat and hopped easily over the railing with a grace that belied the danger hidden beneath her effortless elegance. Stepping onto the deck, she smoothed the front of her ensemble, brushing invisible dust from her shirt sleeves, deliberately oblivious to the eyes watching her.

Bernetta gave a sudden squeak at the new development. It was a sound somewhere between indignance and confusion as she sputtered and stammered for a few minutes before the new stranger spoke.

Luffy's hand remained on his hat, the fingers tightening ever so slightly on the straw fibers. He didn't understand all that was going on and why, but he did know that someone new had just entered the picture and there was something about them that seemed to be very off and very wrong. Something that didn't seem to bother the magical redhead that had called out to the mystery woman. As if sensing his unease, Zoro shifted ever so slightly closer, an unspoken reassurance that everything would be fine—no matter how it turned out. Sanji's reaction was to draw a cigarette and twirl it between his fingers, contemplating the actual action of smoking rather than satisfying the usual craving that came with the sudden spikes of adrenaline at moments like this.

"Altessa." The strange woman—Rubia—acknowledged with a respectful dip of her head, the white-blonde locks swaying with the movement. "You look well. Is there some way I may be of assistance?"

"I need to speak to my father." Altessa licked her lips. "And I need to see Jennica and I need to get some…help for my friends and for…" The word came out with a gasp. "I don't feel good at all."

"Of course, anything else?" Rubia began to scribble on a thin slab of white crystal stone drawn from the confines of her inner tunic. The words she penned flared with a golden light and disappeared almost as quickly as she wrote them.

"You little-how dare you ignore me when I'm speaking to-!" Bernetta began, her hand flashed out, but this time, it was caught by Rubia who fixed her with a disapproving frown.

"Kindly refrain from physically interacting with her ladyship in my presence. I believe my rank trumps yours and at the moment, I am acting upon her orders, by which, I would appreciate it if you would not interrupt us."

Altessa smiled, weakly. "Thank you, Rubia. I have one special request…fire Bernetta."

The woman stared at her and Rubia calmly released the hand, reaching up to tuck another strand of hair behind her left ear. "Of course, though I need not remind you that there will be consequences for doing so without your father's permission."

"I understand and accept." The phrase was practiced and well-delivered. It was something Altessa had imagined saying for quite some time, she was only saddened to think that she could not fully enjoy the moment she'd dreamed of for at least the past five years.

Rubia was still scribbling, her expression neutral as she continued to make the necessary arrangements to carry out her new orders. "Very well then, milady, anything after that?"

"No." The words were faint and there was suddenly flash of orange and red energy, before the older form of the girl melted away to show a small, ten year old girl, looking extremely pale and beginning to shiver uncontrollably.

Rubia frowned. "Ladyship?"

"I need to speak to father." She whispered. "And I'll do whatever needs to be done, but please…take them to Jennica and get help. They … saved my life." And with those words, the little girl promptly passed out.

Rubia looked from the newly fainted form, to the enraged Bernetta and then to the entire audience of the Strawhat crew that were watching her with various expressions on their expressive faces. "Of course, your ladyship." She murmured. But the phrase was said with a resigned air.

* * *

A rather disgruntled Bernetta was dismissed from service and a calm, cool, decidedly reserved Rubia took up the role of their unofficial guide. She immediately introduced herself on Altessa's behalf and demanded to know their names and conditions for healing. When the questions were answered with more or less difficulty, the blonde woman had silenced them with a look and a hand held up, lost in thought.

"This will not be easy." She allowed after a moment, shooting an appraising glance towards the young captain, his strawhat head bowed ever so slightly, his body tense even to an untrained eye. "I can help you as per her ladyship's wishes, but I must ask you to be patient for a little while longer, granted, this should not affect the effects of your curses, but the lady healer—Jennica—she is somewhere in the city, due to the festival. I need to find her…and convince her to leave the festivities for the sake of…humans." Rubia swallowed, the faintest flicker of emotion showing on her stoically expressionless face.

"Do whatever you have to." Luffy's voice grated. "Just do it." There was a thin layer of harshness that didn't seem to fit his personality as he lifted his head to stare deliberately at the Rubia woman.

For a moment, nothing was said and then Rubia turned abruptly with the same dangerous elegance she'd shown earlier. "Very well then, follow me and try not to touch anything. I suppose I ought to mention that on Sonreah, if you have not yet realized, humans are less than stellar creatures in our eyes." She wrinkled her nose, tucking the usual strand of hair behind the same heavily bejeweled ear. "However, your assistance to her ladyship ensures your safety for the moment as you are currently in my care under her orders. There are two things Sonreans hate to varying degrees, pirates and marines." Her mouth twitched. "I suppose it is lucky for you that we all hate the marines more. Come along."

* * *

Nami fell into step beside Robin and Sanji, her mind was whirling with the sudden overflow of what she was seeing coupled to what she was hearing. An island where marines were more hated than pirates, an island were humans were hated more than both—and a world that seemed to run on magic—something that defied every shred of logic within her mind.

This just wasn't true. It could not be happening.

Sneaking a sideways glance, she caught Robin deep in thought, the woman's eyes dark and brooding more so than usual and the earlier grimace of pain was now missing. The only difference from her usual darkened silence was the fact that both of Robin's arms were nestled carefully in a makeshift sling from around her neck. Chopper had been careful to see that she was tended to and with that minor annoyance out of the way, the brunette was puzzling through the strawhats newest adventure—very much in the same terms as the redhaired navigator. Catching the young woman's hesitant gaze, Robin chose to favor her with a simple smile, knowing it would be enough for the moment.

Sanji turned automatically to the left, to ask his fellow crewmates if there was anything at all that he could help either of them with when he saw Robin smile softly at Nami. He swallowed the words begging to be spoken and turned back to the front. He could easily read the navigator's frustration and wary apprehension, it was setting off all sorts of alarms in his head and he was pretending that he didn't have to deal with it just yet. He chewed on the end of the unlit cigarette, his hands shoved deep in his suit pockets, one of his elbows digging sharply into some stranger's side as he took a jab intended for the brunette walking beside him. It was hard to follow their aloof blonde-haired guide through the pressing throngs of excited festival party-goers and while the woman threaded her way through the crowd with relative ease, Sanji was finding it was a much more difficult reality than he'd expected.

Chopper rode on Franky's shoulders, the little doctor keeping his hat tugged a bit lower on his head to hide his face. He didn't like the feeling of so many eyes on him at the same time. He also didn't like the pushing, jostling crowds and the wild, loud screaming. A shudder ran through him and he darted a downward glance toward Usopp to see the skinny sniper experiencing the same reaction on a larger scale. He almost giggled, but the laughter was stuck in his throat as he realized that the pushing and shoving crowd was proving to be more of a hassle for their injured crewmates. A prickle of anger welled up inside him as the cyborg seemed to realize what was going on as well and moved forward, herding Usopp before him with a surprisingly gentle hand.

Franky felt Chopper shift on his shoulders and his head turned slightly to include the doctor's line of sight. He frowned at seeing Sanji take an elbow to the side in an effort to shield Robin from the drunken party-goers. His eyes narrowed when he realized that Nami was doing the same to cover Robin's left side while Sanji had her right. He frowned. That wasn't right at all. Urging Usopp further on ahead, he shifted the skinny boy to walk beside Nami, taking up a position to Robin's right that allowed him to be a bitter shield than the redhead had been.

Luffy was aware of the unsettling vibes gathering in the air. He was vaguely registering his nakama following closely behind him and it was enough for the moment. His gaze was fixed on the stern blonde woman tromping through the crowd ahead of him and he did not want to let her out of his sight—not until his entire crew was un-cursed. He was trying to figure out exactly what had happened to bring them to this particular turn of events, but all the thinking seemed to only cloud his mind and he didn't want that, so he pushed the troubling thoughts aside for later. There was a faintly comforting presence beside him and Luffy registered that as Zoro's strength being silently offered beside him as the swordsman wordlessly kept pace with him, an occasional glance cast back towards the rest of the crew.

Zoro felt a distinctly painful ache inside him, partially from the missing weight and security of his swords and mostly from the strangely withdrawn version of Luffy trotting silently beside him. He'd seen Luffy quiet a few times—mostly before something big and troublesome started. The kind of thing that had them all fighting for their lives and the brand of justice that just seemed to come naturally whenever a certain rubber-stretching pirate captain was involved. His jaw tightened slowly, his fingers ghosting over the thin hilts of the three short knives tucked in his haramaki. Something was going to happen, he just wasn't sure what it was—yet.

* * *

They found Jennica.

In the midst of a dancing circle with yells, shouts and whoops accompanying the catcalls as a fairly tall woman with four thick black braids of ankle-length hair, twirling in a beautiful continuous pirouette, her feet a blur and her smile faint and relaxed.

Rubia held out a hand to stop Luffy from plowing into her from behind—and also to stop the mini-pirate parade behind her. She felt them assemble into a jumble behind her and only then did she snatch her hand back from barely touching the captain's red vest. "Jennica." Her voice carried a clear, sharp cut and the woman in the midst of the circle, slowed to a brilliant stop, her cheeks rosy red, flushed with the effort, her creamy skin setting of a pair of startling jade cat-eyes that flared with fire as she rolled her neck to the side and beckoned to another woman in the crowd to take her place.

"Rubia." The woman acknowledge, tossing her fat braids over one shoulder. "To what do I owe the pleasure? I did not think you were the sort to engage in festivities, no matter how good the reason."

"I am here on business, may I have a minute?"

"Absolutely not." Jennica sniffed the air, delicately. "I've worked myself to the bone, I want a break. If I do not take one, I have a feeling that Stefan may force me to take one and goodness knows that I absolutely cannot have that."

"I am here on behalf of-"

"Don't." Jennica's hand flashed out, the fire flaring briefly in her eyes once more, her hand on the other woman's mouth. "Do not say who sent you or why you are hear, I do not care, I do not want to know. I came here to enjoy myself tonight." She sighed, her hand dropping back to her side. "Whatever it is, Rubia, it can wait and if it cannot, then I am sure you can find a more willing healer than myself tonight."

"Her ladyship specifically requested you."

Jennica whirled on her, the slender fingers expertly tangling through Rubia's high-collared tunic and curling around her neck in a grip that belied her expertise with the familiar way she moved. "I said I did not want to know."

"If you are going to strangle me-"

"Shut up!" Jennica suddenly shoved her backwards, taking a few steps backwards and plowing into Franky and Chopper. "Ow." It came out more as a whine than an exclamation and when she turned, her gaze immediately fell upon Robin. For a moment, they simply stared at each other and then Jennica blurred forward in a motion that was seemingly too fast to trace in a single blink. Her hands were on the brunette's face and shoulders, her eyes burning with a tinge of jade-colored energy. "You poor thing." There was a distinct injection of compassion in the woman's voice as she tested the sling holding Robin's arms around her neck and then felt for a pulse along her neck. "What in Beria's name happened to you—and a human to boot!" There was a frustrated puff of air. "You should not be out and about in this condition, you ought to see a healer and-"

Rubia cleared her throuat and Jennica jerked back to glare at her. The blonde merely nodded with a slight inclination and Jennica did the math with the same speed she'd danced forward to meet Robin.

"Oh no. No. No, no, no, no a thousand times no!" She spluttered. "You did not-!"

Rubia's mouth twitched again in an almost smile. "At her ladyship's request, not my own."

As if the full realization dawned on her, Jennica turned again, her jaw dropping open in complete surprise. "On my word…Rubia…" The name was ground out as Jennica stalked forward, this time to grab Usopp and jerk him out from behind Franky. She ignored his yelps and protests and the vicious glares sent her way for deliberately manhandling one of the pirate crew members. "This boy…" She sucked in a breath. "Who did this to them?"

Rubia shrugged. "I could not say."

"Could not or would not?"

"Her ladyship did not say."

"Don't toy with me Rubia! This is a serious offense. By all Sonrean law, none of these curses should ever be cast on humans—much less ones with devil fruit powers." She moved in short, stiff movements, pacing a short length in the ground, giving up to throw her hands in the air. "Fine."

"You will grace us with your-"

"Shut your mouth before I shut it for you." Jennica snapped, her eyes icy with the glare that matched. She turned to face the strawhats and gave an awkward bow. "My name is Jennica Halmerris." Her jade eyes regarded them silently. "And I am the most powerful magical healer in existence within this realm." The words were spoken with calm, deliberate quietness, truth ringing in every word. "You are lucky I feel so generous today." But there was a trace of warmth in her voice as her gaze softened. "We'd best take care of this quickly-" She chewed on her lower lip for a moment. "I cannot tell directly, but there must be some kind of time limit on your curses, at least, that is what I'd expect from something of this level, I'll need to…no, I have to." She sighed, rubbing her forehead. "Rubia, make them hold hands…that will be the fastest means of transport."

* * *

**~*~*~*~Thanks for reading!~*~*~*~**


	5. Chapter 5 : Jennica Halmerris

**A/N: ACK! And I am so, so sorry to take so long to update this fic! I honestly had some of this written already, but lack of internet and other pc issues have been tangling up my hands at the moment. Anyway, if there's anyone still reading this fic-LOL-then here's chapter five. It's a tad short, but it covers some of the magical Sonrean stuff going to happen to help the Strawhats from Atral's devious devices. *sigh* I hope you enjoy the read!**

* * *

They held hands at Rubia's terse request.

The result was a blinding flash of blue-white light that landed them in a long, sterile, rectangular room. It was three times as long as it was wide and there were rows of neatly made beds lining the two long walls, with a strange apparatus occupying the far end, seemingly attached to the ceiling and able to function by the way of the ceiling runners overhead.

Nearly everything in the room was either white or shiny, surgical metal that gleamed wickedly in the bright lights. Jennica stripped out of her dancing costume to reveal a simple pair of light green shorts and a snug tank top, an outfit quickly covered by the slender white lab coat she shrugged into, tossing the thick braids of hair over her shoulder.

In the official lab coat, the air of expertise seemed to settle over her as she turned around, walking to the wall where the entrance was, along with several electronic systems lined up against the wall. She scanned her hands and eyes, then began mumbling to herself, something that was actually a running documentary of when she had entered the examination room and what she was doing there.

"One person to a bed." She called over her shoulder. "I'll be with you directly as soon as I've finished the preparations and whichever one of you would care to tell me how you came about to be under the influence of such destructive magic, I am all ears." The sounds of clicking, beeping and whirring filled the room as she yanked out several printouts and paged through them quickly. Her eyes narrowed and she tossed the printouts on a cleared patch of counter, turning her attention to the matter at hand.

For a long minute of silence, she stared at her new patients and then sighed.

After a moment, she stood by a sink, washing her hands before pulling on a pair of green gloves and making her way towards the line of pirates-er-patients. Rubia hung back, hovering near the door, her expression weary, her posture tense. It was her duty to see that the strawhats would be properly and accurately treated, but she wasn't particularly comfortable being exactly in the same room as the famed Jennica. The woman healer was notorious for her no-nonsense ways and unorthodox healing methods.

* * *

From beneath the brim of his trusty strawhat, dark eyes watched the strange doctor woman's every move. Luffy made no venture towards the bed closest to him and as if seeing that as encouragement, none of his crew ventured further than the half-formed line they had made together. He didn't like the room, it was too white, too bright and too clean.

Normally, he wouldn't mind, but these weren't normal circumstances.

It didn't escape his notice that the unofficial guide, Rubia, was standing stiffly in a corner, looking for all the world as if she'd rather be anywhere else, but within that very room. He didn't care if it was their company or their occupation, because neither seemed to have fazed the stoic woman until now.

No, Luffy decided, it had to be the examination room.

His stomach churned uneasily, giving birth to his realistic reactions and initial reluctance. He'd wait and see if the healer lady could help them, if she didn't, then they'd be out of there—and far away. A faint chill washed over him and the rubberman swallowed hard. He could still see the Villain's face laughing in his mind's eye, mocking him, taunting him and escaping after spreading such disaster.

One hand clenched into a fist and Luffy and deliberately forced himself to think further than that. His nakama were hurt because he hadn't been able to protect them at a time when he should have. A faint growl registered in the back of his throat as he accepted that realization and swallowed it. It didn't matter if there was nothing that he could have done, it mattered that he should have tried harder.

There was always room to try harder.

He surveyed the crew with the same watchful eye darting towards the healer woman on the opposite end of the room. She was still elbow-deep in the sink, scrubbing her arms with some weird pink foam. On any other day at any other moment, the rubberman would've been fascinated by the colored soap and weird scent, at this moment, his mind was on his crew.

Usopp was blubbering about his arm—still—and seeing the white-bandaged stumps he cradled to his chest only made Luffy's tightened fist close even more. Zoro stoically bore his own griefs and pains, his expression impassive and his posture stiff. Luffy swallowed at that, remembering his courageous first mate and the strange, bloody battle he hadn't witnessed. Something had happened to shake the pillar that was his right hand—something that had tried to break the green-haired stubbornness, but hadn't succeeded. Zoro was still moving stiffly from his injuries, courtesy of Thriller Bark, and now with this last encounter, he'd taken on more stress when his body was still healing.

Luffy didn't like that at all.

Robin stood off to one side of the group, her posture relaxed, a sure sign that she was more on her guard than she would normally be. The strawhat captain sighed at that. He didn't like to see her like that or to see the worried Nami trying to speak to her and the subdued Sanji standing beside both women.

He scowled. This healer woman had better be good—because the moment they were out of here, he intended to hunt Atral with every fiber in his rubber body.

* * *

By the time she'd finished washing her hands, a tense silence had filtered and settled over the examination room. Jennica turned to see that her new patients hadn't moved at all from where they'd come and where she'd left them. They were still standing in an unorganized gaggle and she didn't like that at all.

Her eyes narrowed faintly and she bit back whatever she was about to say, instead moving forward and reaching towards the noisiest one of the bunch.

As such, her first patient was Usopp, a quivering, trembling mess, holding up the stubs of his arms beneath his chin, tears and snot bubbling over his cheeks. "Please don't make it hurt!" He sobbed.

Jennica's response was to thump his head lightly with one curled fist, more for her own benefit than his. "It shouldn't hurt, but I can't do you straightaway." She held up the bandaged stumps, eyeing them at arm's length and then testing the current stiffness. "Hmmm, this could be tricky. I don't know."

The quivering boy sucked in a shaky breath, his eyes widening even more. "Y-you can't?" Another flood of tears brimmed, begging to be released as he tried to hold them back just the faintest bit. Usopp the Brave could occasionally be brave, but having one's hands cut off was not something he had ever encountered in his own adventurous fantasies—in his mind, nothing would ever dare to so much as hurt him—a myth he knew all too well.

She patted one wet cheek, gently smoothing the dampness with the sleeve of her coat. "I'll have to summon your hands and wait for them to appear, so in the meantime, I'll see to one of your friends." Her smile was faint, but starting. "It may hurt after all, because these are your hands…your hands were cut off. I'll do my best to make it painless and it shouldn't hurt, but I won't promise that, it would be my fault as a healer." She said, briskly, moving around him and guiding him towards and empty bed. "How did this happen?" Pushing lightly on his shoulders to guide the boy and ease him onto the hospital bed, her jade cat-eyes darted up to look at his face and then back to his hands. "You need not give me any necessary details, I only wish to know if it was a fight, an ambush or a…mistake."

"Mistake?" Luffy bristled, he was suddenly standing beside the healer, his glowering glare directed to her, the men in his crew shifting un easily, but already changing formation—Zoro, Sanji moving forward, Chopper and Franky keeping back, with Brook beside him, his cane held at a familiar angle. He was ready to draw if necessary.

Jennica leveled her jade-green eyes at him, the cat-eyed pupils flickering in and back before she wrinkled her nose. "Mistakes are the most common injury listed here." She said, matter-of-factly. "I hesitate to mention it, because you are human and therefore visiting guests or tourists, meaning it was highly unlikely that this was a mistake. When you are…gifted, as we are, mistakes are normal, everyday occurrences." She sighed, loudly. "Powers, talents, gifts…inheritances go awry and things happen." She shrugged, moving around Luffy and the bed to reach the other side and tapped the white sheeted cot. "Lie down, please and keep your arms at your sides, I need to place the measurements for your hands." Her jade-eyes narrowed faintly. "And for the rest of you, those curses you bear are time sensitive, need I repeat myself to please find a space and make yourself comfortable? It would make this process far quicker in the long-run." Her attention snapped back to Usopp. "Now then, I want you to think and focus on your hands, everything you can recall about them and what you like of them and how you use them." She leaned over, tapping the center of his forehead with one cool, slender finger. "And brace yourself, you will feel as if you are straining and reaching towards something, but that is perfectly normal, what I am doing is having your lifeforce entity reach out for your hands to return them to you. It will do so, as long as that is the only thing you are focusing on. I shall allow you a moment to gather your thoughts."

Her head snapped up and towards the shuffling group that still had yet to move. The woman healer ignored the looks sent her way as she skirted the bed and came around to pull back the covers from the cot near to Usopp. "You there, lady with the black hair and broken arms, right this way. Since you have broken appendages similar to your…crewmate, I'll need to begin a similar process on you." She frowned. "You are a devil fruit user, yes?"

Robin slowly moved forward, her wary gaze drinking in the slightly annoyed healer that ushered her over to the prepared bed and coaxed her to lie down. The sheets were pulled up over her tanned form after Jennica tied her hair back with a ribbon, surveying her form with expert eyes. "Broken in more places than this?" She inquired, running her fingers lightly over the limp arms. She had taken them out from Chopper's careful sling and arranged them to lie neatly beside the patient in their natural position. "I sense two breaks in this one and one in that." She nodded towards the far arm. "I trust you were listening to what I said a moment ago, the same will work for you in part, you will need to focus, but I will knit the actual bone and tissue when I am through with his preparations and the rest of them—the reason for the wait is that the stronger the visualization, the better it will be—and the more painless."

With the same spark of brisk efficiency, her eyes skittered to the group and landed on the green-haired swordsman. "You there, marimo-head, over here." She trotted 'round the corner of Robin's cot and towards the next available one.

The reaction was priceless from the red-faced swordsman as the blond chef elbowed him, snickering. He didn't move until the red-haired girl urged him forward and when he stumbled forward, Jennica caught him with a strong hand on his arm. "Right this way." She pulled him forward, using the momentum to take him the next couple of steps until he was right up against the bed. He yanked his arm away from her with a darkened scowl, but her eyes were fixed on the three short knives tucked in his haramaki. "Were those swords?" She nodded towards them, her arm following his and not allowing him to pull free from her grasp.

He stared at her for a moment and gave a cautious nod.

Her grip on his arm tightened and then her glare was directed towards his own scowl. "And your recent injuries have not healed—you should not be out waltzing about in this sort of condition, do you want them to heal properly?" She released his arm to give him a light shove with a faint spark of green energy.

It was enough to lift him up from his feet and set him firmly on the bed.

She smiled. "Good boy. Now then, by the readings I can see, I am guessing you are holding out under a miniaturiazation spell?"

They all stared at her.

Jade eyes sparkled faintly. "I am an expert healer, I have to know such things." She touched a hand to his forehead and then to his neck, a warning look on her face, lest he dare to pull away. "Hmm, that would explain your swords." She nodded towards the knives. "And that would explain…you there, blond with the complex." She gave a jerk of her head. "That way, if you would and please take your shirt off." She nodded towards Zoro. "You too, marimo…and I should mention that it is probably best for all of us if you do not share your names. Plausible deniability is a term I greatly appreciate."

"Plausa…" Chopper tried and failed.

Usopp giggled nervously. "It means-" He began.

Robin answered for him. "It means if she does not know, she cannot say."

"Consider it a need to know basis." Jennica interjected. "In this case, I do not need to know, simply answer to the names I give you." She sighed. "Besides, surely you've been called better or worse in your lifetime and this is only a temporary thing—now hold still!" She dodged Sanji's flailing arms as she ran her hands along his sides and back as he sat on the edge of the bed. "Do not do that! I need to check your growth rate and to see-" She stopped abruptly. "Someone tried to cancel this spell." There was an odd sound to her voice and she stepped away from the bed and the blond, backing to look at the two young men. "I did wonder how much larger you would get, but it seems you are at your original sizes which would mean…and explain the swords…" She muttered. "That would've taken considerable energy…of which only a handful that I know of could possibly have taken care of this. Tell me, who did that for you?"

Sanji was staring at the woman in a mixture of worry and disbelief. He was the only blond present—apart from Rubia—so obviously he had to be the one with a 'complex' and from the pointed glare the healer woman was sending him, he had a feeling that she didn't care to spare a few moments for his feelings. He sighed. Women could be such complicated, delightful puzzles and-

"Would you hurry up already? There's time limits on these!" Jennica made an exaggerated bow. "The rest of you, get on the beds, would you? I really don't have the time—you don't have the time—and I don't have the patience." She paused. "All of you except for him." She nodded towards Luffy. "You're clean."

* * *

**A/N: Whew! And I figured I'd best cut it off there, 'cause Luffy's not gonna be happy about what happens next. ^_^ Thanks for reading and please leave a comment if you feel so inclined! **


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